The result of immobility resulting from head injury, quadriplegia, paraplegia, and various other disabilities often results in pressure sores, as well as gastrointestinal, musculosketal, genitourinary, pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders.
For many years the only known treatment for such immobility was periodic lifting and turning of the patient by nursing personnel or, if the patient was convalescing at home, by family members. The usual disadvantages of hand labor are self-evident in so far as they are common to any manually performed task and need not be enumerated.
A recent development in the treatment of immobility-related trauma is a treatment table which oscillates back and forth about its central longitudinal axis. This therapy has proven superior to manual lifting and turning in terms of being a labor saving device and better providing for unreliability in meeting schedules. However, to accomplish maximum results, it has generally been a requirement of the single axis oscillation table that the patient be turned, both left and right, to an angle exceeding 45.degree. with the horizontal. As a consequence, complex heavy padding surrounding the patient's limbs, torso, and head are usually required. Restraining straps must generally be used to maintain the padding in position.
All of the above-related accoutrements, in addition to the mechanical provisions for the wide turning arc, add to manufacturing and maintenance costs. In addition the tolerance of many patients to such extreme tipping has proven to be somewhat limited. To some it is difficult to sleep under treatment, for others it sometimes causes sea sickness.